Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – A coordinated enforcement operation led by the country’s Ministry of Public Works, in partnership with the Military and Police Commission (Comipol) and Road Safety Support Commission (Codevial), is underway to dismantle unauthorized commercial constructions that have encroached on the legally designated right-of-way of the high-traffic Duarte Highway. The enforcement action is fully grounded in Law No. 1474-34 governing public road access, and follows a formal, months-long notification process that gave all affected property owners a clear, extended window to voluntarily adjust their structures to meet regulatory requirements before mandatory demolition proceedings began. One high-profile case involved the Plaza One commercial complex situated at the 17-kilometer marker in Los Alcarrizos. Officials had previously paused formal legal action against the site after reaching a negotiated agreement, under which the property owners pledged to partially tear down the sections of their development that extended into the public highway easement. However, enforcement teams discovered that during the recent national long holiday weekend, the property owners had brought in construction crews to complete unapproved upgrades and structural expansions that directly violated the terms of the earlier truce, prompting authorities to move forward with immediate demolition. Beyond the Plaza One site, the multi-location operation has already overseen the removal of illegal perimeter walls at two additional commercial sites: Plaza Yanzi in Villa Altagracia, and Plaza Turey in San José del Puerto, located in the Monseñor Nouel province. Inspectors also conducted formal regulatory interventions at the Plaza del Chivo commercial complex in Sabana del Puerto to assess unpermitted encroachment on public road space. In an official public statement, Codevial leadership stressed that preserving the full unobstructed right-of-way of major national highways is a non-negotiable prerequisite for preventing traffic collisions, enabling emergency response access, and maintaining long-term road infrastructure integrity. The agency called on all local business operators and residential property owners across the country to proactively review their land use permits and refrain from any new construction that intrudes on public road property, to avoid facing similar enforcement measures in the future.
Authorities launch operation to remove illegal structures along Duarte Highway
